Sucula funem torculum movet.

The winch moves the press rope.

Breakdown of Sucula funem torculum movet.

• movere: to move
• sucula: the winch
• funis torculus: the press rope

Questions & Answers about Sucula funem torculum movet.

Which word is the subject, and how can I tell?

The clearest subject is sucula.

Why?

• Sucula is a nominative singular form.
• Movet is a singular verb, so it needs a singular subject.
• Funem is clearly accusative singular, so it is not the subject.

So the basic backbone of the sentence is:

sucula ... movet
= the sucula moves

What does movet mean grammatically?

Movet is the third-person singular present active indicative of moveo.

That tells you several things at once:

• present tense: moves or is moving
• active voice: the subject is doing the action
• third person singular: he/she/it moves

The ending -t is the key third-person singular ending.

So even without a separate word for it, Latin already tells you it moves through the verb ending.

Why is it funem and not funis?

Because funem is the accusative singular form of funis.

The dictionary form is funis, but when the noun is used as a direct object, it changes form:

• nominative: funis
• accusative: funem

This is very normal for third-declension nouns. In this sentence, funem is the thing being moved, so the accusative makes sense.